The Gargoyle (edit title)

• Rated 3 stars

“The story set in the 14th century was way more readable and coherent than the present day setting, but above anything else I liked the four short stories Davidson injected the novel with.”

• Rated 4 stars

“There were so many stories in this book. At the very end they tied together. The one thing I think he could do to improve the story was put in little less. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“The books starts out with the description of a horrible car accident which made the protagonist become a burn victim. He has to stay in the hospital for a long time, waitng for his bad insuries to heal but never to vanish anymore. During his time there he gets to know a woman called Marinne Engel. Marianne believes she found her soul mate in him and that they knew each other since some time in the 16th century Germany. Marianne was a nun talented with languages and the protagonist once again a burned soldier. She cared for him as she does now in the hospital.

I think the story was well thought out and sprinkeled with medieval mysticism. I liked that the author left the story open to interpretation, wether one would want to believe in reincarnation and having more than one life or not. Otherwise there was a part when the protagonist or Marianne Engel had to go through hell in sense of Dante's Inferno. I couldn't get this part and that is why I cannot remember which character it was.
”

• Rated 4 stars

“4.5 stars: Well finished it in the middle of last night.(November 3rd) I woke up and decided to read but then I couldn't stop reading. I wanted to know how it ends although in my heart I already knew of course.
I told someone it feels now that I've finished it as if I have just gotten home from a far away and great journey. It is rough but because of its roughness so beautiful! I loved it. I really hope he keeps on writing these little diamonds. (well little, erm 500 pages is not so little) Great book.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I quite liked Andrew Davidson's writing style - he is descriptive and captivating. The story was equally engrossing, although a little strange during times. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“This was a real page turner for me - I would read it whenever I could and really got into it.

But ive only given it 2 stars - well the best quote ive found for this book is 'it tells you everything and leaves you with nothing'

I found the ending 'empty' and there were so many questions and things which really didnt make any sense, dont get me wrong I quite like open ended books but this wasnt an open ended book and it still had unanswered questions. I thought there was going to be this great ending where suddenly everything made sense and for me this fell flat.

I lent this to me husband and he did the same thing, reading it whenever he could and kept saying how this was a great book. But when he finished it he felt disappointed and kept saying things like 'ah but hang on what about..........'”

• Rated 0 stars

“Long book, great read until the end. I find myself really excited with Canadian writers. Do yourself a favour”

• Rated 2 stars

“I actually put this book down twice, determined not to read anymore. But my curiosity got the better of me both times. And it was not appeased.

Andrew Davidson tried too hard, in my opinion. He strove for the great, sweeping tale that was heavily themed around Dante's Inferno. But he went too far.

As an avid reader, I've read many descriptions of gross and gory things - but the descriptions he wrote about the treatment of a burn victim were over the top and horrifying. Several times I had to take deep breaths and look away from the page, then move on skipping that section (sometimes with my hand over it to prevent from accidentally skimming it). The vivid details of life as a porn star were over the top as well.

All that aside, I understand why Davidson attempted to do what he did. He wanted to show us complete and total misery. A man sunk so far into the depths of Hell that his redemption would seem all the more powerful. However, his redemption felt empty to me by the time the book ended.

What was fascinating about the book, and the part that kept drawing me back, were the tales of narrator in his previous life, as told by Marianne Engle (Who's name was WAY too close to Madeleine L'Engle for me and I kept getting them confused, which makes for a whole other reason to dislike the story). These little mini-tales were fascinating and incredibly endearing - and the original story of the Narrators life was inspiring and heart-breaking all at once.

The modern tale of redemption was left lacking when compared to the other stories within the book, and in my opinion, if you were to start reading this book, I would merely skim the disgusting, horrifying modern tales and read the other stories taking place. They are the only reason this book got more than one star from me.”

• Rated 3 stars

“listened to audio”

• Rated 5 stars

“"The Gargoyle" is undoubtedly not for everyone, and my guess is that to really appreciate this book you need to be someone who is not squeamish about gory descriptions and interested in subjects such as past lives, parallel realities and love stories of the "beauty and the beast" type.
I personally loved it, and found it moving, intelligent and well-written. ”